The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said Saturday,

Hundreds of people, including over 125 civilians, have been killed along Syria’s Mediterranean coast in what authorities consider the deadliest burst of violence since Islamic rebels replaced President Bashar al Assad’s forces.

Clashes between government security forces and supporters of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad have killed at least 311 people in Syria since Thursday, according to a monitoring group that warns the actual death toll could be “much higher.

Damascus: The death toll from recent clashes in Syria's coastal region has risen to 1,018, including 745 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The figure marks a sharp increase from earlier reports.

Amid efforts by the U.N and Europe to woo former terror chief Ahmed al-Sharaa with sanctions relief, his regime is accused of killing hundreds of civilians from the minority Alawite community.

Scores have been killed in fierce clashes between government forces and gunmen loyal to the Assad regime, in a serious challenge to the country’s new rulers.